OK so this started off as a "what cool thing can I make with a 3D printer" idea, but all within the realm of a guy who doesn't know much about 3D modeling. In fact, it's kind of a perfect project for kids to work on. The idea is to design a cup that will hold exactly 8 ounces of water and needs to be unique. After all, common is boring. The design took a little while, but here's the printing of the base:

Once it got going a little bit, here's the cup starting to take shape:

And thy chalice is being completed:

I plucked it from the bed, took it over to show my queen, and we rejoiced at the marvel that had been created. To celebrate, we filled it up with refreshing California tap water... and it drained right through the bottom. DARN.

OK, so sharing is about the failures as well. I'm going back through the whole process, trying to realize why this could happen. For one, and the more obvious reason, is that the bottom layers must have been spaced further apart than they're supposed to. To fix that, I turned the Z-knob to bring the bed closer to the extruder, hoping that would squish the filament down better, thus creating a better and tighter bond. The second option I see is that there was some "curling", which means that the material isn't sticking to the bed. To fix that, I added more glue... Not sure if that's going to help.

UPDATE: After bringing the bed a little bit closer and re-printing the based, we tested it. Yes, this is now a team effort with mama Stevens. All is good, no leaks, so we're printing again.

All in all, it's still pretty rad how this whole thing works. I will figure it out, no matter how long it takes.

In regards to grading myself on the proximity to 8 ounces, I was just over. Not too bad, considering there was just some eyeball math done to estimate how big the cup needed to be. However, I'll go back and mess with it a bit until it's done the right way.

Finally, my dad was out this weekend and was in awe of this cool machine, do it's only fitting to make him something of his own. Happy early Father's Day, dad.